Acoustic B-100 Speaker Crapping Out

daddyplaysbass · #1 02-23-2011, 10:00 AM

I have never had to push this amp, so no problems. Fri nite I had the Gain & Vol at 2:00 and put other controls at Noon. Using a Mex active Fender 4-string balanced a little toward the neck P/U and vol at under full a tad. Pickups are 1/8" from bottom of strings, set up per Fender specs. The speaker rattled and distorted. Bought it at GC when they came out and got the extended warranty so I may have to see how that works out. Anyway, anybody have any advice other than not purchasing Chinese stuff? Thanks

craig.p · #2 02-23-2011, 10:50 AM

"The speaker rattled and distorted" = abuse. Everything else (pickup distance, volume settings, etc.) is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with Chinese stuff and everything to do with knowing how to tell when your kit is in trouble, and then being smart enough to back off in time not to cause any lasting damage.

christw · #3 02-23-2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig.p

"The speaker rattled and distorted" = abuse. Everything else (pickup distance, volume settings, etc.) is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with Chinese stuff and everything to do with knowing how to tell when your kit is in trouble, and then being smart enough to back off in time not to cause any lasting damage.

Exactly. If it's making bad sounds, stop. Otherwise you risk doing permanent damage. Just limp through whatever you're doing and bring more amp next time.

AlPBass · #4 02-23-2011, 11:05 AM

Were you maybe plugged into the passive input? If you have an active bass and the gain and volume at 2:00, if you were plugged into the passive input, then that would make a lot of signal going into the amp and maybe could overpower the speaker. I'm just mentioning this because I had the reverse happen a few times. I thought something blew on my B-100R because the volume was lower than last time even at the same settings, only to realize that I had plugged into the active, padded input by mistake.

rdwil191 · #5 02-23-2011, 11:45 AM

I don't know if this is the same problem that you are experiencing, but all of my basses make what sounds, at least to me, like clipping only the clipping light doesn't flash (i've made it clip, just to see if it was the same thing...it's not). I guess they're right about "not enough amp", and you just need to back off. I thought about returning mine, but was out of the 45 day return from MF. I've just learned to play within it's limits. Mine gets about 4-5 hrs of use per wk (since last October) between practice at home and run-time at church.

Ibanez Bassist · #6 02-23-2011, 12:41 PM

I have the Acoustic B-100 and I cant really say that I have been at 2 O'Clock with both Volume and Gain but I have been at 12 anyway.. Thing is I have both a Passive and an Active bass and there is an incredible difference in the two.. but haven't had any problems yet.. LOL good for you that you have the extended warranty..

RickenBoogie · #7 02-23-2011, 01:00 PM

+1 it's all about the speaker, and just because an amp is mated with a built in spkr does not mean it can handle everything that amp is capable of. Sounds like you need a bigger amp, and more spkrs.

daddyplaysbass · #8 02-24-2011, 09:01 AM

Well, thanks for the advice; making progress. I pulled my 1977 CarvinTR1000 2X15 speaker cab and 1977 Carvin ST2500 amp out of the garage (I bought this rig 14 years after I started playing still has the tone I want but a little too much to haul for small gigs). Turned up to same volume (and more) with no problem. Then I ran the Carvin speakers off the Acoustic, no problem. Now back to the Acoustic, I rolled the "Mid" totally off on the bass and the sound from the B-100 was acceptable; slight rattle from speaker, even went to full volume and no heavy distortion until low "G". Tried my Geddy Lee, SCPB and "77 passive P-bass with acceptable results. I think RickenBoogie nailed it, some combo speakers won't keep up with the amp.

christw · #9 02-24-2011, 09:10 AM

Lesson to learn here: it can only do so much so don't push it so hard or it will break.

Ps- Scooping your kids will make it a whole lot harder to mix into a band and to be heard. As well, those lows are what's taking up all of your amp's power and causing the speaker to crap out. Keep those mids! They're important.